born June 11, 1910, Saint-André-de-Cubzac, France
died June 25, 1997, Paris
French ocean explorer.
A navy officer, he coinvented the Aqua-Lung, or scuba. He founded the French Office of Underseas Research (now the Centre of Advanced Marine Studies) in Marseille. For decades, beginning in 1950, he traveled the world in research vessels named Calypso . He invented a process for using television underwater, and he hosted an internationally successful television series (1968–76). He served as director of Monaco's Oceanographic Museum (1957–88). In his later years he issued increasingly dire warnings about human destruction of the oceans. His many popular books include The Silent World (1953) and The Living Sea (1963); his films include The Golden Fish (1960, Academy Award).